For two months, Gazans had some respite from the Israeli bombs that have reduced the strip to a wasteland, and began to pick up the pieces of their devastated lives. The families of the remaining hostages held by Hamas militants inside the enclave also clung to hope of seeing their relatives released from their hellish captivity, as a fragile ceasefire held between the Palestinian militants and Israel.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shattered any illusions that peace was finally coming after 17 months of brutal conflict. On Tuesday, he ordered the military to resume bombing Gaza. Its strikes killed more than 400 people, according to Palestinian officials, making it one of the deadliest days of Israel’s war in Gaza as the full death toll nears 50,000.
Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying the strikes were launched because the militant group refused to release the hostages. Yet it is Israel that sought to change the terms of the deal. There was no justification for Netanyahu’s decision to resume the onslaught and jeopardise the lives of the remaining hostages. The ceasefire must urgently be restored, and the warring parties pressured into compromises that end the killing and secure the 59 hostages’ release before it is too late for those still alive.